


Cat's Paw

by JJGrace42



Series: Scrapbook of a Dimension-Traveling Sideshow [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon Compliant, Mind Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 17:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11257839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JJGrace42/pseuds/JJGrace42
Summary: She was smart. He wasn't blind.





	Cat's Paw

**Author's Note:**

> Author Note: The title (and idea) for this little snippet is based off the dictionary definition for the phrase cat’s paw. To be a cat’s paw is to be something (or, more typically, someone) that is used by another, usually to carry out an unpleasant or dangerous task. The phrase comes from the Aesop fable entitled “The Monkey and The Cat” in which the monkey tricks the cat into reaching into the fire to pull out the chestnuts roasting there, promising that they’ll share. The cat does so and, as expected, burns his paw. And then, in the cat’s moment of distress/injury/weakness, the monkey gobbles the chestnuts up and leaves the cat with nothing. I thought it was a rather appropriate representation of the Hiruzen/Mirai relationship, both at this point and later on.  
> This is a POV change snapshot. This scene is from the main storyline and can be found near the beginning of Chapter Five - Cognizance (so if you haven’t read that, go read it before you read this). The plot/dialogue of this scene is going to remain the same, but the point of view has shifted. Hiruzen, or rather the Sandaime Hokage, is very old, very wise, and very experienced. He thinks about the world differently and notices things that Mirai doesn’t notice. Because of that, the narration is different and includes things that Mirai didn’t include in her POV. Also, an important thing to remember (especially when reading close POV/1st person POV) is that you can’t always trust the narrator to be reliable. I write what the character shares. Just as when a real person tells a story, POV narrators leave things out; this means that the differences here in this scene aren’t mistakes, they’re just a different perspective. After all, no two people see the world the same way.  
> Enjoy, read, and review!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Naruto. Really, do any of us own anything? Or is the idea of possession simply a materialistic concept created to allow us to wrestle with our own lack of control?

“In that case, Mirai-chan, would you fancy playing a round with me?”

Her head snapped up, though she caught herself smoothly and the tension rolling off of her in waves softened. Her eyes—sharp and intelligent like her father’s, but with her mother’s rage—searched him for a moment, almost as if she was looking for something that wasn’t there. Then she didn’t nod, she didn’t even acknowledge the question. She simply turned the board so the black pieces sat in front of her and continued to set it up. He arched an eyebrow. She wanted to go first, then? A rash move, perhaps. Or perhaps not. It wouldn’t provide control, but the tone of the game was very important; setting that tone was more so.

Her first move was simple—just a pawn, moved to make way for a bishop. He hummed in response as he made his own move, but she didn’t say anything. Hadn’t said anything since before he’d asked for the game. Behind her, Naruto was playing with his dominos and other toys with dramatic noises and waves of his arms. Every time the boy would make a sound, Mirai’s head would twitch minutely back towards him. Her hands didn’t seem to like staying still, almost seeming to spasm at random times. Then her fingers started tapping against her thighs as she learned forward, dark gaze flickering across the board in thought.

“What is it you enjoy about shogi, Mirai-chan?” He nodded his head to her, indicating that he was patient for her to speak. It seemed to be a good thing, because she certainly wasn’t in any hurry to answer him. The skin around her eyes pulled tighter as she contemplated her options. Hiruzen’s hands itched for his pipe, but he simply waited. He was sure that, whatever her response was, it would be worth it.

Mirai lifted a hand—it was steady for a moment, but then Naruto mumbled something to himself again and her fingers twitched to the side just slightly. Then she touched her silver general. “It’s realistic,” she said dryly, almost as if the question bored her. She tugged the piece backwards and it caught on the dip in between spaces for just a moment before sliding into place.

His gaze jumped to his rook—her move had done nothing to affect him and he wondered for a moment if she knew what she was doing. It was clear she understood the rules, but her strategy was lacking in any sort of energy. He moved his rook forward. “How so?”

She lifted her hand. But then she paused over her bishop, cocking her head to the side. Her fingers drifted to a pawn instead. “They’re all different. Different abilities and ranges, even the ones that are the same.” There was only the barest hints of inflection in her voice and he watched as she gestured lightly to one side of the board and then the other, her head just barely turning back towards Naruto again. “A pawn that starts over here will never be able to do the same things as a pawn that starts over here.” There was a curious look in her eye, like she was just realizing this for the first time herself.

A slight turn of his hand moved his lance. It certainly seemed like she wasn’t trying to win. Or maybe, he thought, she had confused his other pieces with his king. Something in her gaze told him that wasn’t the case. “I’ve never heard anyone describe it that way before, Mirai-chan. Quite imaginative. Which piece is it that you like the most?” His gaze lifted to her face to gauge her response.

She didn’t look up from the board, fingers drumming soundlessly on her legs. “The gold general.” Despite those words, she moved her bishop, finally taking advantage of the opening he’d left. Pity that it was a trap. “He can move in almost any direction, with just two options missing. But with just a little patience and an extra move, he can get there anyway.” Then she lifted her gaze to his. There was darkness in the girl’s eyes, and he knew that she knew that this was far more than just a game of shogi.

He moved a knight. She would have to learn to expect snares in the future. “The gold general can only move one space at a time. Not terribly quick.” Children were supposed to be impatient, weren’t they? His certainly had been, and her mother had been far from forbearing.

Her knight moved, capturing the one he’d just set up. He arched an eyebrow. She had seen the trap, then? Or maybe the king hadn’t been her goal, though that was the only way to win the game. “You don’t have to be quick to be powerful.”

He knew that, of course. It was common knowledge among shinobi that speed didn’t equal victory. Hiruzen moved his lance. “You know you’re losing.”

“Hai,” she commented offhandedly, as if it didn’t matter. She captured his rook, ignoring her king’s plight. “Two more turns.”

She knew, then. More than that, she knew what his next moves were going to be. There was no surprise in her eyes when he moved his knight. “You’re not trying to win.” He didn’t phrase it as a question, but he meant it as one. And seeing as her lips drew in a frown, she knew it too.

Another capture. His gold general fallen to the whims of a pawn. “No, I’m not,” she agreed, her voice falling flat again. There was no attempt to disguise the emotion in her voice; there was no need for that when her words were completely devoid of feeling in the first place.

His knight clicked against her king and he nodded subtly. “You’ve tried to damage me as much as you could, knowing you couldn’t win.” A shinobi mindset, if he had ever seen one. A dangerous perspective, but a valid one. For a moment, those violet eyes reminded him of bandages and a broken arm. Her jaw tensed and this time her entire body shifted backwards as Naruto dramatically knocked down his domino tower.

“I couldn’t just give up.”

“No.” He allowed his lips to curl just a bit and could no longer resist the itch for his tobacco. He wrapped his fingers around his pipe and drew it out. Those words, the meaning behind them, were familiar, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. “Mirai-chan?”

A brush of her arm knocked the pieces askew onto the table and she folded up the board. “Hai, Oyaji?” She picked the pieces up one by one, slotting them into place.

He sucked on his pipe for a moment and released a smoky breath. “What’s your favorite thing about shogi?”

Her entire body stopped moving and her eyes glazed over. Then another sound from her brother made her twitch and the spell was broken. She put away a few more pieces and then picked up the two that remained. She held them for a moment, observing them like she’d never seen them before. “I suppose,” she mused, speaking almost as if he wasn’t there, “my favorite part is that, at the end of the game, the king and the pawn,” —she paused and if he didn’t know better he would say she was putting on a show as she put the game pieces away— “both go back to the box.” Said box slammed closed so loudly that Naruto jumped and Mirai’s right elbow pulled just barely backwards.

He bit his teeth into the wood of his pipe. There was no avoiding what she was implying and he wasn’t sure how to respond. This was no shinobi, no soldier. This was a child. But for a moment he thought that she could fool someone into thinking otherwise. Perhaps there was just a hint too much of Minato in his daughter. “You’re quite the child, aren’t you, Mirai-chan?”

“A child?” Her voice cut through the air with more intensity than any of her actions that day had spoken of before. “Yes, yes I am.”

And then Hiruzen found himself in a staring match with a young child—a prodigy, a genius, a intelligent and old soul, but a child. He hadn’t felt like second guessing himself in a long while, but there was that uneasy feeling in his gut that refused to leave. Mirai didn’t blink. This time, when Naruto laughed loudly in his play, she didn’t move. Hiruzen bit his pipe again.

Perhaps it was time for him to leave.


End file.
